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Home , Beverly Sills, Carol Vaness, Cavatina, EMI Classics, Frank Lopardo, Jennie Tourel

The Miraculous Mandarin

January 2019 23 Season 2018-2019

Thursday, January 24, at 7:30 The Friday, January 25, at 2:00 Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor Charlotte Blake Alston Speaker Nadine Sierra Elizabeth DeShong Mezzo-soprano John Osborn Krzysztof Bączyk Bass Philadelphia Symphonic Joe Miller Director Philadelphia Boys Choir Jeffrey R. Smith Artistic Director

Bernstein Symphony No. 3 (“Kaddish”) I. Invocation: Adagio— Kaddish 1: L’istesso tempo—Allegro molto II. Din-Torah: Di nuovo adagio— Kaddish 2: Andante con tenerezza— III. Scherzo: Presto scherzando, sempre pianissimo— Kaddish 3— Finale: Adagio, come nel Din-Torah— Allegro vivo, con gioia

Intermission 24

Rossini Stabat Mater I. Chorus and Quartet: Stabat Mater II. Tenor : Cujus animam III. Soprano and Mezzo-soprano Duet: Quis est homo IV. Bass Aria: Pro peccatis V. Chorus and Bass : Eia Mater VI. Quartet: Sancta Mater VII. Mezzo-soprano Cavatina: Fac ut portem VIII. Soprano Air and Chorus: Inflammatus et accensus IX. Quartet: Quando corpus X. Chorus: Amen

This program runs approximately 2 hours, 10 minutes.

These concerts are sponsored by Gretchen and M. Roy Jackson and an anonymous donor.

Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM, and are repeated on Monday evenings at 7 PM on WRTI HD 2. Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details. 25 The Philadelphia Orchestra Jessica Griffin

The Philadelphia Orchestra Philadelphia is home and orchestra, and maximizes is one of the preeminent the Orchestra continues impact through Research. orchestras in the world, to discover new and The Orchestra’s award- renowned for its distinctive inventive ways to nurture winning Collaborative sound, desired for its its relationship with its Learning programs engage keen ability to capture the loyal patrons at its home over 50,000 students, hearts and imaginations of in the Kimmel Center, families, and community audiences, and admired for and also with those who members through programs a legacy of imagination and enjoy the Orchestra’s area such as PlayINs, side-by- innovation on and off the performances at the Mann sides, PopUP concerts, concert stage. The Orchestra Center, Penn’s Landing, free Neighborhood is inspiring the future and and other cultural, civic, Concerts, School Concerts, transforming its rich tradition and learning venues. The and residency work in of achievement, sustaining Orchestra maintains a Philadelphia and abroad. the highest level of artistic strong commitment to Through concerts, tours, quality, but also challenging— collaborations with cultural residencies, presentations, and exceeding—that level, and community organizations and recordings, the on a regional and national by creating powerful musical Orchestra is a global cultural level, all of which create experiences for audiences at ambassador for Philadelphia greater access and home and around the world. and for the US. Having engagement with classical been the first American Director Yannick music as an art form. orchestra to perform in the Nézet-Séguin’s connection The Philadelphia Orchestra People’s Republic of China, to the Orchestra’s musicians serves as a catalyst for in 1973 at the request has been praised by cultural activity across of President Nixon, the both concertgoers and Philadelphia’s many ensemble today boasts critics since his inaugural communities, building an five-year partnerships with season in 2012. Under his offstage presence as strong Beijing’s National Centre for leadership the Orchestra as its onstage one. With the Performing Arts and the returned to recording, with Nézet-Séguin, a dedicated Shanghai Media Group. In four celebrated CDs on body of musicians, and one 2018 the Orchestra traveled the prestigious Deutsche of the nation’s richest arts to Europe and Israel. The Grammophon label, ecosystems, the Orchestra Orchestra annually performs continuing its history of has launched its HEAR at Carnegie Hall while also recording success. The initiative, a portfolio of enjoying summer residencies Orchestra also reaches integrated initiatives that in Saratoga Springs and Vail. thousands of listeners on the promotes Health, champions For more information on radio with weekly broadcasts music Education, eliminates The Philadelphia Orchestra, on WRTI-FM and SiriusXM. barriers to Accessing the please visit www.philorch.org. 6 Music Director

Chris Lee Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will lead The Philadelphia Orchestra through at least the 2025-26 season, an extraordinary and significant long-term commitment. Additionally, he became the third music director of the Metropolitan , beginning with the 2018-19 season. Yannick, who holds the Walter and Chair, is an inspired leader of The Philadelphia Orchestra. His intensely collaborative style, deeply rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. has called him “phenomenal,” adding that under his baton, “the ensemble, famous for its glowing strings and homogenous richness, has never sounded better.”

Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most thrilling talents of his generation. He has been artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain since 2000, and in summer 2017 he became an honorary member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He was music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic from 2008 to 2018 (he is now honorary conductor) and was principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic from 2008 to 2014. He has made wildly successful appearances with the world’s most revered ensembles and has conducted critically acclaimed performances at many of the leading opera houses.

Yannick signed an exclusive recording contract with (DG) in May 2018. Under his leadership The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to recording with three CDs on that label. His upcoming recordings will include projects with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the , the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Orchestre Métropolitain, with which he will also continue to record for ATMA Classique. Additionally, he has recorded with the Rotterdam Philharmonic on DG, EMI Classics, and BIS Records, and the London Philharmonic for the LPO label.

A native of Montreal, Yannick studied , , composition, and chamber music at Montreal’s Conservatory of Music and continued his studies with renowned conductor ; he also studied choral conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick’s honors are an appointment as Companion of the Order of Canada; an Officer of the Order of Montreal; Musical America’s 2016 Artist of the Year; the Prix Denise-Pelletier; and honorary doctorates from the University of Quebec in Montreal, the Curtis Institute of Music, Westminster Choir College of Rider University, McGill University, and the University of Pennsylvania.

To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit philorch.org/conductor. 26 Soloists

Deborah Boardman Photography Deborah Charlotte Blake Alston is an internationally acclaimed storyteller, narrator, singer, and librettist. She has appeared as host and narrator on The Philadelphia Orchestra’s School and Family concerts since 1991 and is in her 25th season as host of Sound All Around, the Orchestra’s preschool concert series. She has also appeared on each of the Orchestra’s Martin Luther King, Jr., Tribute Concerts since 2003. She was the featured host, storyteller, and narrator on Carnegie Hall’s Family and School concert series from 1995 to 2016. She has made multiple appearances at the Smithsonian Institution, the Kennedy Center, the National Museum for Women in the Arts, and at the National Storytelling Festival and the National Festival of Black Storytelling, among others. She was one of two storytellers selected to present at the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. Her numerous honors include a Pew Fellowship in the Arts and the Award, the highest award given by the National Association of Black Storytellers. She makes her Philadelphia Orchestra subscription debut with these performances. Marri Cyr Soprano Nadine Sierra makes her Philadelphia Orchestra debut with these performances. She was the winner of the Richard Tucker Award in 2017 and the Metropolitan Opera’s Beverly Sills Award in 2018, and she has made a string of successful debuts at the Met, the Teatro alla Scala, the Opéra National de , and the Berlin State Opera. Her debut album, There’s a Place for Us, was released in August on the Deutsche Grammophon label. On the opera stage this season she reprises the roles of Nannetta in Verdi’s at the Berlin State Opera and Gilda, one of her signature roles, in Verdi’s at the Metropolitan Opera; makes her highly anticipated house and role debut in the title role of Massenet’s at the Opéra National de Bordeaux; and performs Gilda in the Berlin State Opera’s new production of Rigoletto under the baton of . In addition to these current performances, highlights on the concert stage include Maria in Bernstein’s West Side Story with at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Teatro ’s televised New Year Concert, the Richard Tucker Gala at Carnegie Hall, and concert debuts in Prague, Bordeaux, and Baden-Baden. 27 Soloists Kristin Hoebermann Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong makes her Philadelphia Orchestra debut with these performances. Other highlights on the concert stage this season include a tour of Europe and the with the English Concert singing the role of Juno in Handel’s ; a solo recital for Vocal Arts DC at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater with pianist Mark Markham; John Adams’s The Gospel According to the Other Mary with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with the composer conducting; Adalgisa in Bellini’s in concert with North Carolina Opera; and Handel’s Messiah with the San Francisco and Houston symphonies. Operatic engagements include her first performances as Sesto in Mozart’s with and the title role in Handel’s at the Glyndebourne Festival. Last season she performed the role of Arsace in Rossini’s with the Metropolitan Opera, which was broadcast worldwide as part of the Met’s Live in HD series; sang Ruggiero in Handel’s with Washington National Opera; and returned to the Glyndebourne Festival as Suzuki in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. She made her Royal debut in the 2016-17 season. Matilde Fassó Tenor John Osborn has appeared with leading theaters around the world, including the , the Opéra National de Paris, the Metropolitan Opera, the Teatro alla Scala, , and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. These current performances mark his Philadelphia Orchestra debut. His recent highlights include Tonio in Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment at the Teatro de la Maestranza in , the title role in Offenbach’s at the Dutch National Opera, and Nemorino in Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love at the Macerata Festival in Italy. In the fall of 2016 he returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Arnold in Rossini’s . A native of Sioux City, IA, he received his Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Simpson College in Indianola, IA. He made his professional operatic debut in 1993 at the Des Moines Metro Opera and was then invited to become a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. While still a member of the program, he made his European debut in 1997 in Cologne as Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff under the baton of James Conlon. 28 Soloist/Chorus Ksenia S. Photography Bass Krzysztof Bączyk was born in Poland in 1990. He received his musical training first as a member of the Poznań Boys Choir and then at the Poznań Academy of Music, from which he graduated in 2014. In 2016 he debuted at the Polish National Opera in Warsaw as Publio in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito and performed in Salzburg with Marc Minkowski as Poliphemo in Handel’s Acis and Galatea. In recent seasons he debuted in Cagliari as Colline in Puccini’s La bohème; performed the roles of the Commendatore and Masetto in Mozart’s in Stockholm; and sang Mozart’s at the Opéra National de Lorraine. He has appeared as Masetto at the Aix-en-Provence and Beaune festivals; debuted at the Opéra Bastille in Verdi’s Don Carlos; appeared in Mozart’s The Magic and as Zuniga in Bizet’s at Warsaw Opera; and performed Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. Later this season he returns to the Opéra Bastille for productions of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District and Puccini’s . These current performances mark his Philadelphia Orchestra and United States debuts. Pete Checchia The Philadelphia Symphonic Choir made its debut in December 2016, performing in three programs with The Philadelphia Orchestra that season. Consisting of talented vocalists auditioned from throughout the greater Philadelphia region, the ensemble was created to marry gifted and unique voices of Philadelphia with the legendary Philadelphia Sound. In the 2017-18 season, the choir appeared in The Philadelphia Orchestra’s performances of Haydn’s The Seasons and Puccini’s Tosca and most recently performed with the Orchestra in December. The Philadelphia Symphonic Choir is directed by Joe Miller, director of choral activities at Westminster Choir College, where he is conductor of the Westminster Choir and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. He is also artistic director for choral activities for the Spoleto Festival USA. Dr. Miller’s recent recordings with the Westminster Choir include The Heart’s Reflection: Music of Daniel Elder and Martin: Mass for Double Choir, which includes Anders Öhrwall’s arrangement of the Swedish folk tune Fäbodpsalm från Dalarna with Philadelphia Orchestra Concertmaster David Kim and Acting Associate Principal Bass Joseph Conyers. 29 Chorus

The Emmy-winning and Grammy-nominated Philadelphia Boys Choir made its Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 1973. Established in 1968 by Dr. Robert G. Hamilton and currently under the baton of Jeffrey R. Smith, artistic director since 2004, the Choir is known as “America’s Ambassadors of ,” proudly representing both the City of Philadelphia and the United States on its many concert tours across the globe. The Philadelphia Boys Choir’s achievements include recordings with internationally renowned orchestras and soloists, including ; television appearances including Good Morning America, Saturday Night Live, and The Today Show; and collaborations with many ensembles including the Philly POPS, Pennsylvania Ballet, Opera Philadelphia, the Curtis Institute, the Mendelssohn Club, Pig Iron Theater, Vox Ama Deus, and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. The Choir also maintains an illustrious international touring program, most recently with a concert tour of China in 2017, with performances in 15 concert halls over the span of 19 days; a return to Cuba for the fourth time, also in 2017; and a tour of Singapore and Vietnam in 2018. This year the boys travel to Italy. 30 Framing the Program

We hear two spiritually inspired works on this concert Parallel Events for soloists, chorus, and orchestra that were written by 1841 Music composers who possessed extraordinary dramatic gifts. Rossini Schumann Stabat Mater Symphony No. 1 The Philadelphia Orchestra continues its celebration (“Spring”) of ’s birth centenary with his final Literature Symphony No. 3, subtitled “Kaddish.” Bernstein rose to Tolstoy compositional fame—beyond his extraordinary renown as The Vampire a conductor—principally with works for dance, film, and Art the musical theater. Among his other compositions were Cole two symphonies, which prompted the Boston Symphony The Voyage of Orchestra to request a third to commemorate its 75th Life: Childhood anniversary. Although Bernstein missed the deadline, History there gradually emerged the “Kaddish” Symphony that Britain occupies imaginatively combines lament and celebration. Hong Kong retired from writing after 1963 Music his grand William Tell in 1829. He was 37 years old, Bernstein Barber enjoying the height of his popular fame, and would live Symphony Piano Concerto for nearly 40 more years. He continued some composing, No. 3 Literature mainly and small piano pieces, and then began (“Kaddish”) Plath an impressive sacred work, the Stabat Mater, which The Bell Jar describes Mary’s suffering during Christ’s crucifixion. Poor Art health initially prompted Rossini to enlist a friend to write Hopper some parts of the work, but he later supplied the missing Two Comedians History movements. The result is an immediately attractive Kennedy composition that brilliantly merges his lyrical and dramatic assassinated gifts with the Italian tradition of sacred music that he had absorbed in his youth.

The Philadelphia Orchestra is the only orchestra in the world with three weekly broadcasts on SiriusXM’s Symphony Hall, Channel 76, on Mondays at 7 PM, Thursdays at 12 AM, and Saturdays at 6 PM. 31 The Music Symphony No. 3 (“Kaddish”)

The Boston Symphony, which had introduced Leonard Bernstein’s Second Symphony in 1949, commissioned a successor from him for its 75th anniversary season, that of 1955-56. At that time, however, Bernstein was busy with a string of cinematic and theatrical projects: Trouble in Tahiti, Wonderful Town, On the Waterfront, , West Side Story—all, astonishingly, composed between 1952 and 1957. Somewhere in there he managed to write a concerto for , his Serenade, but there was no chance of the new symphony for Boston. Then, in Leonard Bernstein 1958, Bernstein became music director of the New York Born in Lawrence, Philharmonic, which brought his composing activity almost Massachusetts, to a halt. Not until the summer of 1961 did he start work August 25, 1918 Died in , on the symphony, and by then the world had changed. October 14, 1990 Bernstein had called his Second Symphony “The Age of Anxiety,” responding, through the poem of the same name by W.H. Auden, to the uncertainties of the early Cold War. During the 12 years since then, those uncertainties had only deepened. The United States and the Soviet Union now had weaponry that could destroy all human life; the extremity of the political situation was forcibly demonstrated by events happening even while Bernstein was at work on his new symphony—not least the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. At the same time, scientific advances, especially in astronomy, microbiology, and psychology, were radically changing how the universe and the human self could be understood, and the development of automated technology was reducing the need for the skills that had helped give people a sense of role and purpose. The Age of Atonality Change had come, too, within the sphere of music. In his own creative work of the mid-’50s, Bernstein had demonstrated how closely popular and classical styles could work together. However, the growth of rock ’n’ roll, signaled by the eruption of Elvis Presley into national consciousness in 1956, opened a gulf. On the other side, among Bernstein’s classical colleagues, came another. Between 1952 and 1957, Stravinsky—hitherto the great beacon for composers who, like Bernstein, could not engage with Schoenberg—gradually assimilated 12-tone principles. Moreover, Bernstein’s great friend and mentor Aaron Copland did the same, as Bernstein 32

found himself reminded when, a month before the Cuban Missile Crisis, he conducted the first performance of the senior composer’s Connotations. The age of anxiety was becoming also the age of atonality. Bernstein decided to embrace it, if with trepidation rather than his customary bear hug. His new symphony, which was his first work of any size since 1957, would take the 12-tone idea on board, but, unlike Copland and Stravinsky, he would not thereby change his style. There would, rather, be various styles, as there had been in his great works of the past, but now in dramatic confrontation, creating musical metaphors for disquiet, search, struggle, and achievement. As he himself put it: “The agony expressed with the 12-tone music has to give way—this is part of the form of the piece—to tonality and even diatonicism, so that what triumphs in the end, the affirmation of faith, is tonal.” Finding a Voice In order to make his intentions clear, Bernstein decided to bring them out into the open—not by means of a sung biblical text, as in his First Symphony, nor with a poetic program, as in his Second, but through a spoken narrative. For this, he went to Robert Lowell and then, at Lowell’s suggestion, to Frederick Seidel, before deciding he had to write it himself, because, for him, the narrator’s voice was to be his own, asking his questions and making his demands. Of course, the voice of the music is his own, too, and though these two voices may move in parallel, they may also be in conflict. That, indeed, is the Symphony’s principal state. The work grew as a monologue for a human being addressing God, and also as a vigorous dialogue between speaker and orchestra, between spoken words and music that is sung or played—a dialogue with many levels of direct expression and subtext. We may, if we will, understand the work in its composer’s own terms, as a scene of conflict resolved in affirmation. We may also feel the Symphony’s battle to be unwon, feel the work to be a challenge still seeking resolution—a challenge or, more precisely, a fistful of challenges: to resituate art in the political sphere, to create an integrated culture, to bear witness, to identify permanent values, to support hope. Like Mahler Following the example of his hero Mahler, Bernstein worked on his symphony during summer vacations, in 1961, in 1962 (at the MacDowell Colony), and in 1963, scoring it for large orchestra, soprano, speaker, chorus, and boys choir. The Boston Symphony generously waived its priority so that the first performance 33 could be given by the Israel Philharmonic, in Tel Aviv on December 10, 1963, with the composer conducting. Jennie Tourel was the soloist, and the narration was delivered by the great Russian-Israeli actress Hanna Rovina, then in her 70s. The performance was taking place only three weeks after the Kennedy assassination in Dallas, and Bernstein duly dedicated the work “to the beloved memory of John F. Kennedy.” A month later, the Symphony was heard in Boston, with Charles Munch conducting, Tourel again singing the solos, and the composer’s wife, Felicia Montealegre, as speaker. Tourel and Montealegre were also involved when Bernstein brought the work to the New York Philharmonic the following year and made a recording. Still finding the spoken text a problem, he rewrote it and re-recorded the Symphony in 1977. The rediscovery of Mahler was yet another determining feature of the early 1960s. Bernstein made his first Mahler recordings in 1960: the Fourth Symphony and an album of songs, with Tourel. He recorded the Third Symphony the next year, and the Second and Fifth in 1963, while working on his own “Kaddish.” Mahler gave him the example of a composer who opened the symphony to words, a composer who also, while seeming to express himself in a very personal manner, spoke for the world. But also, for all Bernstein’s misgivings about 12-tone music, this Symphony is an extraordinarily Schoenbergian work. On many occasions, Schoenberg created through music a conversation with God, and in one late piece, A Survivor from Warsaw, he worked with ancient Jewish prayer and a spoken narration relating to the contemporary world: exactly Bernstein’s mix in the present Symphony. A Closer Look Introduced by the speaker, the first movement has a slow orchestral introduction followed by an allegro with chorus. The introduction starts out in darkest 12-tone territory, though Bernstein—like Copland, like Stravinsky—uses Schoenberg’s technique in a completely individual and instantly identifiable way. His harsh discords and yearning lines are already seeking tonal resolution; the gestures rise up toward the light. As the music becomes more continuous, a saxophone takes the lead. The opening music returns before the chorus enters and soon moves into the allegro, the first setting of the Kaddish, after which the movement ends with recollections of both introduction and allegro. Bernstein gave his slow movement the title “Din-Torah,” after the folk song “A Din Torah mit Got” (A Court 34

Bernstein composed his Session with God), which memorializes the 18th-century Symphony No. 3 from 1961 Hassidic rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev, famous for his to 1963. altercations with the Almighty on behalf of the Jewish The first, and only other, people. The movement begins with thunder from the Philadelphia Orchestra enlarged percussion section, out of which the chorus performances of the “Kaddish” comes winding with the word “Amen.” But nothing has were in April 2008, with been resolved: The orchestra’s 12-tone music becomes conductor John Axelrod, more vociferous, and remains so after the voices have soprano Kelly Nassief, narrator re-entered. This is the work’s most ferocious passage, and Samuel Pisar, the Philadelphia it is followed by the sweetest: a lullaby from the soloist, Singers Chorale, and the singing Kaddish a second time, supported by orchestra American Boychoir. and chorus. There is a middle section like a peal of bells, The work is scored for four but it is with the slow, gentle music—tinged, though with (III doubling alto flute, IV intensity—that the movement closes. doubling piccolo), two , English horn, two clarinets, Sleep, however, is not an answer to the world’s questions, E-flat clarinet, , or to this Symphony’s. The relentless scherzo is 12-tone, alto saxophone, two , but based on six-note phrases answering one another—a , four horns, four dodecaphonic pop song. Bernstein suddenly transforms , three , the theme into a big tune, taken up by boys’ chorus. (The , , percussion use of children to suggest angels recalls Mahler’s Third (antique , , Symphony.) Pessimism powerfully returns, but the 12-note bongo drums, chimes, cymbals, theme is now beautifully drawn out and almost pacified. finger cymbals, glockenspiel, Then the big tune comes back, this time to initiate a final hand drum, maracas, rasping Kaddish in the form of a fugue, ending decisively on the stick, sandpaper blocks, side word heard so often in this work: “Amen.” drum, , suspended , tambourine, temple —Paul Griffiths blocks, , tom-toms, triangle, vibraphone, wood block, ), harp, celesta, piano, strings, soprano solo, speaker, mixed chorus, and boys’ chorus. The Symphony runs approximately 40 minutes in performance. 35 The Music Stabat Mater

By 1820 Gioachino Rossini was the most popular and frequently performed composer in Europe. Although Beethoven was alive and still slowly productive—the Symphony and other late masterpieces had yet to be written—he did not enjoy the broad public success that his younger Italian colleague did. The two, who met in Vienna in 1822, apparently admired one another and were not really in direct competition. Beethoven reigned supreme in the sphere of instrumental music (he had struggled mightily with his lone opera Fidelio) and Rossini rarely Gioachino Rossini wrote anything other than operas. He triumphed with both Born in Pesaro, serious and comic works, although today it is the latter that February 29, 1792 remain most often performed, thus somewhat distorting his Died in Paris, contemporaneous reputation. November 13, 1868 An Extended Retirement The 1820s saw significant changes in Rossini’s career. In 1824 he moved to Paris and composed several operas in French, sometimes adapting earlier Italian ones for new audiences. And then in 1829 he wrote his grandest work, William Tell, whereupon, at the height of his popularity, he abruptly “retired,” never composing another opera during his remaining four decades. He was famous and rich and hoped he could do what he pleased, although ill health and depression clouded much of the rest of his long life. In fact, Rossini did not entirely give up composing. He wrote many charming brief songs, piano, and chamber pieces as well as two significant sacred compositions: the Stabat Mater performed on this concert and Petite messe solennelle (Little Solemn Mass). While in his heyday he worked with enormous speed (he allegedly composed in just three weeks), things progressed at a slower pace in retirement. A Joint Composition—At First During a trip to Madrid in 1831, two years after his withdrawal from the opera scene, Rossini was asked to write the Stabat Mater. He composed about half of the piece but due to poor health enlisted his friend Giovanni Tadolini (1789-1872) to finish it. The joint work apparently had just one performance in Madrid at Easter time in 1833. Four years later, after the death of the commissioning Spanish patron, the score was acquired by a Parisian publisher who wrote to 36

Rossini composed his Stabat Rossini informing him that he planned to release it. The Mater from 1831 to 1841. outraged composer responded that the work as it now Walter Howe led the first stood was a composite composition—surely the publisher Philadelphia Orchestra could tell two different composers at work and figure out performance of the work, which movements were Rossini’s. He threatened that if it in October 1945 at the appeared he planned to “pursue the publisher to death.” Worcester Music Festival, Rossini had at some point composed the movements that with soprano Stella Roman, Jean Watson, tenor he had omitted years earlier and eventually won a court Donald Dame, baritone case supporting his rights of ownership. The final wholly Lansing Hatfield, and the Rossini version was unveiled in Paris to enormous acclaim Worcester Festival Chorus. in January 1842—the public was still hungry for new Most recently on subscription, Rossini. Two months later, conducted the it was heard in May 1992 Stabat Mater in Bologna and reported: “The enthusiasm under ’s baton, is impossible to describe. Even at the final rehearsal, with soprano Carol Vaness, which Rossini attended, in the middle of the day, he was mezzo-soprano Dolores accompanied to his home to the shouting of more than 500 Ziegler, tenor Frank Lopardo, persons. The same thing the first night, under his window, bass Roberto Scandiuzzi, since he did not appear in the hall.” and the Philadelphia Singers Chorale. A Closer Look Musical settings of the medieval hymn to the Virgin Mary, Stabat Mater dolorosa (The Sorrowful Mother The score calls for pairs of Was Standing), which describes her suffering during the flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons; four horns; two crucifixion, span the centuries. Rossini particularly admired the trumpets; three trombones; one by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi from 1736. An orchestral timpani; strings; two , introduction to the first movement (Stabat Mater), tenor, and bass soloists; and a somewhat dark in mood, leads to the entrance of the chorus mixed chorus. and the four vocal soloists. The next three movements—ones that Rossini added later—omit the chorus to feature the Performance time is Cujus animam approximately one hour. soloists. is a jaunty aria and the most famous part of the piece, a favorite of many who perform it independently from the rest of the work. Its pure melody would be at home in many of Rossini’s operas. Attractive lyricism continues in Quis est homo, a duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano that ends with a marvelous joint . There follows the bass aria Pro peccatis. The chorus returns, a cappella (without the orchestra) in the fifth movement, Eia Mater, supplemented by a bass recitative. After an orchestral introduction, the sixth movement, Sancta Mater, features the quartet of soloists leading to the mezzo-soprano aria Fac ut portem. The eighth movement is a virtuosic soprano air with chorus (Inflammatus et accensus) with an agitated accompaniment. The Program notes © 2018. All penultimate section offers an a cappella solo quartet rights reserved. Program notes (Quando corpus) before an energetic final chorus (Amen) may not be reprinted without that includes a fugue and circles back to the dark opening of written permission from the entire piece before a brief fugal conclusion. The Philadelphia Orchestra Association and/or Paul —Christopher H. Gibbs Griffiths. 37 Musical Terms

GENERAL TERMS reappearing throughout 12-tone: Music A cappella: the entire piece in all the constructed according to Unaccompanied voices voices at different places the principle pioneered by Air: A tune or melody : Smooth, even, Schoenberg in the early Aria: An accompanied without any break between 1920s, whereby the 12 solo song (often in ternary notes notes of the scale are form), usually in an opera Meter: The symmetrical arranged in a particular or grouping of musical order, forming a series of Atonality: Music that rhythms pitches that serves as the is not tonal, especially Recitative: Declamatory basis of the composition organized without singing, free in tempo and and a source from which reference to key or tonal rhythm. Recitative has also the musical material is center sometimes been used to derived Cadenza: A passage or refer to parts of purely section in a style of brilliant instrumental works that THE SPEED OF MUSIC improvisation, usually resemble vocal . (Tempo) inserted near the end of a Scherzo: Literally “a Adagio: Leisurely, slow movement or composition joke.” Usually the third Allegro: Bright, fast Cavatina: A song, movement of symphonies Andante: Walking speed particularly a short aria and quartets that was Con gioia: With joy without da capo introduced by Beethoven Con tenerezza: With Chord: The simultaneous to replace the minuet. The tenderness sounding of three or more scherzo is followed by a Di nuovo adagio: Slow tones gentler section called a trio, over again Da capo: Repeated from after which the scherzo is L’istesso tempo: At the the beginning repeated. Its characteristics same tempo Diatonicism: are a rapid tempo in triple Presto: Very fast Music whose tonality time, vigorous rhythm, and Scherzando: Playfully is predominantly humorous . Also Vivo: Lively, intense nonchromatic (such as the an instrumental piece of works of Haydn or Mozart) a light, piquant, humorous TEMPO MODIFIERS Dodecaphony: A character. Molto: Very synonym for 12-tone Ternary: A musical form Sempre: Always Fugue: A piece of music in three sections, ABA, in in which a short melody which the middle section DYNAMIC MARKS is stated by one voice is different than the outer Pianissimo (pp): Very and then imitated by the sections soft other voices in succession, 38 Tickets & Patron Services

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